After the destruction wrought by World War II, the Allies decided that the best course of action was to rebuild the defeated nations of Germany and Japan. Gen. George Marshall was given the charge of pulling together the money and manpower to provide a basis for the defeated powers of the Axis to join the peaceful nations of the world.

A great deal of the impetus for this effort was the experience of the world following World War I. That war left Germany in a horrendous condition but in that circumstance, the Allies chose to drive it deeper into despair, imposing substantial reparations requirements as well as isolating it from the rest of the world. The result was Adolf Hitler's rise to power and we all know how that ended.

This should be a lesson to us in regard to our effort in Iraq. Our invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 was masterful, accomplished in almost summary fashion. Unfortunately, while we were welcomed at first by the beleaguered population, we quickly made enough mistakes to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

First, we disbanded a military that had been well fed and happy under Saddam. We basically dismissed 400,000 men trained in military operations and sent them packing, without a source of income, turning them into bitter foes. Next, we purged from the government those who knew the government and would be essential to a reasonably functional economy, particularly given the fact that the government was in charge of the prime driver of the economy, the oil fields.

It is those oil fields that hold the key to victory in Iraq and a way home for American soldiers. Prosperity is a pretty good antidote to political unrest. If we look at human history, most wars have been precipitated by political leadership that takes advantage of desperate economic conditions. Look at Europe after WW I - hyperinflation and the destruction of the German economy led directly to the rise of Hitler and his demonization of the Jews.

After WW II, the allies learned their lesson. They focused like a laser beam on rebuilding Germany and Japan, getting their people working and replacing demagoguery with prosperity. It was expensive initially but paid great dividends long term as both of those nations recovered from their almost total annihilation in the war to become prosperous, free, peaceful and democratic members of the world. This has been much to our benefit and the benefit of all peaceful nations.

Now is the time for the President to announce his new Marshall Plan for Iraq. It is one thing to have a military surge and try to secure the peace in the face of fierce resistance from those who want to control Iraq's sizable oil reserves. It is quite another, absolutely necessary, component of a winning strategy to replace a destructive ideology with prosperity.

This should be readily achievable in Iraq, with a relatively short timetable given those vast oil resources and today's oil thirsty world. Germany and Japan had no such built in wealth and it took them much longer to build the stable economy necessary for a stable and secure political situation. If we put together a 'surge' of oil production, we can literally change Iraq overnight, from economic desolation to abundancy.

Oil is a fungible commodity and doesn't require much effort to turn it into cash and other resources. Of course, this requires political agreement and enough security to allow uninterrupted production. We have the troops there now but we may need to redirect them to the pipelines and pumping stations. The good news is that the added oil revenue could furnish the resources to afford additional security forces as well as give the populace a bigger stake in joining their own military and police as well as to turn in the insurgencies who would wreak havoc on their revenue source.

This isn't just about making Iraqis rich; it is very important to our security. Iraq is sitting on reserves north of 200 billion barrels - anyone who gets control of that treasure trove is a world power overnight. Our being driven out would also not give the world much confidence. If the world's most powerful military - by far - can be brought low by an insurgency, what does that say for opposing a new power with all that oil?

Let's look at the positive side of making Iraq wealthy and free and democratic and prosperous. Iran, its historical rival next door, is ruled by a threatening theocratic regime which is isolating its people from the world economy with its atomic weapons pursuit. They rioted a few weeks ago in response to gasoline rationing imposed by the government in a clumsy fashion. Given those facts, and a look westward at a free, prosperous Iraq, how long will it be before the Iranians overthrow the mullahs and join the world economy?

There is historical precedent to this strategy. The Poles and other Eastern Europeans got tired of literally looking west and seeing prosperity while their Russian masters were making their subjects stand in line for toilet paper and drive cars that were decades behind the West. We won the Cold War without firing a shot; it was monetarily expensive in the short term but in the long term, the world is far better off with a free Eastern Europe. They are even giving us lessons in supply side economics with low flat tax rates and booming economies.

We should take Democrats at their word that they want peace and security for America and the rest of the world. Short term we are suffering with daily casualties and billions diverted from our taxpayers. What we need now is a new long term vision, much as President Truman and General George Marshall had in the desolation after WW II. Let's give prosperity a chance - it worked before, it will work again.